whiting



Patented Jan. 10, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 18 Claims.

This invention relates to figured toys such as paper dolls and particularly to those toys which have a plurality of dresses or parts simulating dresses whereby a child may dress the toy in various costumes.

It is one of the objects of the invention to provide a device of the foregoing character in which the dresses are arranged for interchangeable use and are also secured to the device in such a manner that they cannot become detached and lost.

More specifically it is an object of the invention to provide a suitable supporting structure representing in part a child or the like to which there are hingedly connected a plurality of sheets, having depictured thereon dresses, each of which can be turned from the front of the figure to the rear so as to disclose a different dress. Still more specifically each sheet has a representation of two different dresses, one on each side thereof, and the sheets are so arranged that in any successive position of the sheets as they are changed from front to rear the same dress will appear simultaneously at the front and rear of the supporting structure.

Another object of the invention is to provide simple means for holding the sheets in their adjusted positions at some suitable portion thereof which is spaced from the hinge so that the sheets will be held in place at two or more points which are separated from each other.

It is a further and more specific object of the invention to provide for the hinge means a ring or rings interlinking with the supporting structure and the individual sheets representing dresses so that the sheets may be turned from one side of the support to the other and at the same time be turned over so as to disclose the opposite side of the sheet and another dress.

The foregoing and other objects of the invention will readily appear to those skilled in the art towhich it appertains by a consideration of the following description of several different embodinients thereof taken in connection with the 1 accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a doll embodying one form of the invention and shows in dotted lines one of the dresses in an intermediate posi- 50 tion through which it passes when the costume displayed is being changed;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of one of the parts or sheets on which the representation of a dress is depictured;

Fig. 3 1s a rear elevation of the part shown in Fig. 2 and shows the representation of a different dress thereon;

Fig. 4 is a vertical section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a supporting base with a fragmentary portion of the doll in position therein;

Fig. 6 is a front elevation of a doll embodying another form of the invention;

Fig. 7 is a front elevation of one of the parts or sheets shown in Fig. 6 having the representation of a portion of a dress thereon;

Fig. 8 is a rear elevation of the same part shown in Fig. 'l and shows a different dress depiotured thereon;

Fig. 9 is a vertical section taken on the line 99 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 10 is a horizontal section taken on the line |0l0 of Fig.6;

Fig. 11 is a front elevation of a doll embodying still another form of the invention;

Fig. 12 is a fragmentary horizontal section taken on the line l2l2 of Fig. 11; and

Fig. 13 is a fragmentary vertical section taken on the line l3l3 of Fig. 11.

Referring to the drawings more in detail, and particularly to the form of the invention shown in Figs. 1 to 5, the reference character 2| indicates generally a supporting structure which as shown in the drawings is formed from a thin wooden board. The upper portion 22 of this supporting structure is in the outline of and is decorated to represent the head of a child. The intermediate portion 23 is in the form of the shoulders of a child while two downwardly extending portions 24 and 25 are formed and decorated to represent the arms and hands of a child. A front plate 26 and a rear plate 21, formed preferably of sheet metal, extend across the upper shoulders and arms and are secured to the supporting structure 2| by means of rivets or pins 28 which pass through the plates and supporting structure. Two other rivets or pins, an upper pin 25 and a lower pin 30, extend from the front plate 25 to the rear plate 21 but do not pass through the supporting structure but are positioned midway in the space between the two arms 24 and 25. These plates are preferably formed and decorated to represent the yoke of a dress or more accurately stated the yoke of all the dresses.

By referring to Fig. 4 it will be noted that the space 3| between the two plates 26 and 21, that is the thickness from front to rear, is determined by and is equal to the thickness of the sup porting structure 2|. Within this space are positioned the upper ends of a plurality of sheets of cardboard or some other suitable sheet material 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 31 and 38. One of these sheets, 35, is formed of a somewhat heavier and stiffer stock than the others and is somewhat longer, 1. e., extends farther upward in the space 3| for purposes which will presently appear. The relative dimensions of the parts are preferably chosen so that the aggregate thickness of all the sheets 32, 33, etc., are equal to or slightly less than the thickness of the space 3|. The lower ends of these sheets are hingedly connected together. One way of making this hinged connection is to use two or more rings which interlink all the sheets. A specific form of the ring hinge, which is shown in Fig. 1, is a helical wire 39 extending along the entire lower edge of the sheets and interlinking with a plurality of apertures 39a therein. This form of connection, which has recently gone into more or less extensive use for notebooks and certain other books, is more commonly and less accurately called a spiral connection. The upper end of the sheet 35, which is heavier and longer than the others, is provided with two apertures 40 and 4| through which extend the pins 29 and 30 and upon which the sheet 35 can slide between the plates 26 and 21. By this means the sheet 35 is permanently attached to the supporting structure and since all the sheets are permanently attached to each other at their lower edges they are all held together and to the supporting structure 2| in such a manner that they cannot become misplaced or lost.

The upper ends of the sheets, with the exception of the sheet 35, are not flat across the end but are in the form of a V as indicated at 42, the pin 3|) being positioned well down in the V, when the upper ends of the sheets are between the plates 26 and 21, so that there is little or no sidewise shifting of the sheets. The manner in which representations of the different dresses are consecutively arranged may be explained by first considering sheet 32. One side of this sheet 32 has the representation of a diagonal pattern 32f thereon while a different pattern 321) having vertical stripes is on the other side. As is readily apparent from an inspection of the drawings the pattern 32 appears as the front part of the dress when the sheet 32 is in the position shown in Fig. 4, that is, when it is in the position nearest to the front of the figure. In the same figure the sheet 38 is shown being swung into a corresponding position at the back of the figure. It will therefore be the same dress shown at 38?) as at 32 If the sheet 38 were swung on the ring 39 until it were at the front of the figure instead of the back then the pattern 38 would be displayed at the front and the corresponding pattern 3'lb at the rear. In this last named position the corresponding representations 32f and 3% will be on adjacent sheets and on the adjacent surfaces of the adjacent sheets.

When it is desired to change the costume of the doll the outermost sheet, either front or back, may be grasped by the hand so that the middle portion is sprung outwardly sufficiently to permit the upper end to be withdrawn from behind the plate 26 or the plate 21, as the case may be, and the sheet is then swung to the other side of the figure. Its upper end is then inserted behind the plate by bending or bowing at the middle portion.

A suitable base, indicated generally at 43, is

provided by means of which the doll as a whole may be supported in an upright position. This base has a broad horizontal surface 44 upon which it rests and sloping upper surfaces 45 which terminate at or near a longitudinal groove 46 of just suificient width to receive the combined sheets 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 31 and 38. At the bottom of this groove 46 there is shown an enlarged portion 41 which is preferably of cylindrical form to receive the helical hinge member 39.

It is to be noted that the sheet 35 is permanently attached to the supporting structure of the doll by means of the pins 29 and 30 but is nevertheless free to slide thereon back and forth between the plates 26 and 21 so that no matter whether the other sheets are either all toward the front or all toward the back or some intermediate arrangement, the sheets as a whole align themselves with the thickness of the supporting structure or Wooden board 2|.

In the form oi the invention shown in Figs. 6 to 10 a supporting structure which is preferably cut out of a piece of a thin wood board, extends from the top to the bottom and has painted, on its upper portion, the face of a child 52; at the left and right of its intermediate portion, the representation of arms 53 and 54; and at its lower portion 55, the representation of feet and legs together with a portion of a suitable background.

Unlike the form of the invention shown in Figs. 1 to 5 there is no cutout portion of the supporting structure which affords a space or recess into which the sheets representing the dresses may be received. In the form of the invention shown in Figs. 6 to the sheets which represent the dresses are superposed on the supporting structure and increase the total thickness of the doll at that place and in proportion to their aggregate thickness. Another difference between Fig. 6 and Fig. l is that two pieces of sheet material are used to represent the front of the dress and two for the back of the dress instead of one.

Referring more particularly to Fig. 6 the representation of that part of a dress which is seen at the front of the figure is depictured on two different pieces of sheet material 56 and 57. The piece seen toward the left, that is toward the left of the drawing which is of course at the right of the figure itself, indicated by the reference character 55, is also shown in Fig. 8. Only a portion of the piece 51 is seen in Fig. 6 but its form corresponds to the shape of the piece shown in Fig. '7. Corresponding pieces of sheet material 58 and 59 are positioned at the back of the figure and have depictured thereon the same pattern as the pieces 56 and 51 which are at the front of the figure. Other pieces of sheet material such as those shown in section in Fig. 9 at 50 and 6| may be positioned underneath the sheets already described to provide as many changes of costume as may be desired.

To provide means whereby the diiierent pieces of sheet material having the representations of different dresses thereon are permanently attached to the figure so that they cannot be lost each piece is provided with an aperture 62 near or at the shoulder. As shown in Fig. 6 the aperture is through that portion of the piece of sheet material that is decorated to represent the shoulder strap of the dress. The supporting structure 5| is also provided at each shoulder with a similar aperture 63. One-half of the pieces of sheet material are positioned a little nearer to the right side of the figure (left as seen by a person looking at the drawings), that is pieces 56, 58 and B0, and a ring 64 interlinks, by means of the apertures 62 and 63, with these sheets and the supporting structure 5| so that they are permanently connected together and to the doll as a whole while at the same time they can be changed from the front to the rear so as to effect a change in costume. The remaining half of the pieces of sheet material, 51, 59 and GI, are interlinked with the supporting structure by a ring 65 at the left shoulder of the figure.

In order to hold the pieces of sheet material more securely in place on the side of the figure where they have been placed, special fastening means 66 and 51 may be provided just under each ring 64 and 65. It is also desirable that such means be capable of serving a decorative purpose and in the drawings they do appear as buttons and as a part of the dress. One way of constructing such fastening means is to use a piece of tubing 68 positioned in an aperture 69 through the wooden board 5| which comprises the supporting structure. At each end of such tube there is placed an ordinary button Ill and the two buttons thus placed at opposite ends of the tube are sewed together by means of a thread. Each of the sheets of flat material which have depictured thereon the likeness of a dress are provided with a deep notch II positioned close to the aperture 62 (see Figs. 7 and 8) and also a shallow notch I2 spaced across the sheet from the aperture 62 and also across the sheet from the deep notch II.

In order that the figure as a whole may be capable of maintaining itself in an upright position there is provided a cross-piece for the base. This is in the form of a thin board I3 having a notch extending downward from its upper edge to a distance equal to about half of its height. This notch cooperates with a similar notch extending upward from the lower edge of the supporting structure 5| to provide a cruciform supporting base as clearly appears from Fig. 10.

When it is desired to effect a change in costume the top portion of the dress, 56 for exampie, is pushed together at the edges so that the middle portion which extends vertically from the top to the bottom is curved away from the supporting structure and it is possible to remove the edge near the shallow notch I2 from under the auxiliary fastening means 61. By then using the ring 64 as a pivot the sheet 56 is swung away from the auxiliary fastening means 66 where the deep notch H is engaged. The whole sheet 56 is then slipped along the ring 64 and swung from the front of the figure to the rear, its intermediate position being indicated by dotted lines at 56'. In a similar manner the sheet 51 is slipped out from under the buttons I0 and swung from the front of the figure to the rear passing through the intermediate position 51'. In this form of the invention the dresses add to the total thickness of the figure by the amount of their aggregate thickness. Inasmuch as this additional thickness may be all at the front of the figure or all at the rear, or be divided between the front and rear, there is a decided advantage in having the tubes 68 of the auxiliary fastening means 65 and 6'! slidable in the apertures 69 whereby such means are adjustable from front to rear or vice versa tohold the dresses snugly in place no matter on which side of the figure they are positioned.

In the form of the invention shown in Figs.

11 to 13 a supporting structure 8! made from a thin board has depictured on its upper portion the face of a child 82, at its intermediate portion arms 83 and 84, toward its lower portion the legs and feet 85 of a child and the very lowest portion 86, which is used for supporting the whole figure, may have represented thereon some suitable background upon which the child is standing. The head of hair 81 and pigtails 98 and 89 are preferably formed from some suitable fibrous material such as yarn.

The middle portion of the supporting structure or board is cut out so that the figure is open from the front to the rear. This cut-out portion or opening 90 extends in a horizontal direction from the right arm to the left and in a vertical direction from about the level of the shoulders to about the level of the waist. The outlines of the opening 99 are curved and just slightly larger than the sheets of thin sheet material to be positioned therein. One of these sheets is shown at Ma in Fig. 11 in a position somewhat separated from the rest of the figure so that its form or outline is clearly shown. Within this space or opening 90 there is positioned a plurality of pieces of sheet material 9|, 92, 93, 94 and 95 upon which there is depictured the representations of different dresses, preferably each sheet having a representation of a dress on each side thereof. Each sheet has an aperture 96 therein at a portion of the sheet near the wrist of the right arm 83. A ring 91 encircles this wrist and interlinking with the apertures 96 serves to prevent the sheets from becoming detached and lost. It will be noted that this ring 91 also serves a decorative purpose and appears to be a wrist bracelet. A piece of thin sheet metal 98 is secured to the shoulders of the figure on the front side thereof and extends downwardly over the opening 90 a slight distance to provide a lip 99 to hold the pieces of sheet material 9|, 92, 93, 94 and 95 in place. This piece of sheet metal is preferably decorated to represent the yoke of a dress, in fact it represents the yoke of all the dresses. of sheet metal I00 is secured to the figure at the rear thereof and extends downwardly over the opening 90 a slight distance to provide a retaining lip IOI. There is also provided a piece of sheet metal I82 near the lower front portion of the dresses which piece of sheet metal extends upwardly above the lower edge of the opening 90 to provide a retaining lip I03. A similar piece of sheet metal I04 is positioned at the lower rear of the opening 99 and extends a slight distance above the lower edge of the opening to provide a retaining lip I05.

In the use of the doll and in the changing of the dresses from the front to the rear or vice versa the sheets of thin cardboard on which the dresses are depictured may be sprung slightly so that they can be taken out and replaced behind the retaining lips but such a springing is much less and may be entirely unnecessary with the construction shown in the drawings. It will be noted that the upper retaining lips 99 and IIJI are somewhat longer than the lower retaining lips I03 and I95. Furthermore it will be observed that the total height of the opening 99 is a little greater than the total height of the pieces 9|, 92, 93, 94 and 95 which represent dresses whereby there is an unoccupied space or clearance I06 above the dresses. It is desirable that the height of this space or clearance I96 be approximately equal to the height of the lower A similar piece lips I83 and I05. With the construction as thus described in order to remove one or more of the sheets 9| to 95 from behind the lips, preliminary to turning them to the opposite side of the figure, the sheets are pushed upward into the space I06 and the lower edge then being at about the level of the top of the lower lip it can be readily pushed out of the opening 90 as is clearly shown in Fig. 13. After the lower edge is out beyond the opening the sheet can be moved downward, either by gravity or by the fingers of the operator, until the upper edge in its turn will pass out beyond the lip 99.

Whether the height of the space I06 is made a little greater or a little less than the height of the lips I03 and I05 depends upon whether it is desired to remove the sheets 9! to 95 without any bending whatever or whether it is considered desirable to combine the vertical shifting of the sheets with a slight amount of bending. With the construction which requires a slight amount of bending there is less likelihood of the sheets accidentally getting out of the opening and yet even with the construction with requires no bending at all the dresses will not ordinarily fall out of the opening except when the figure is upside down.

A notched cross-piece I01 similar to the one described with respect to Figs. 6 to 11 may be employed for supporting the whole structure.

It is to be understood that the hereinbefore described embodiments of the invention have been selected for purposes of illustration only and various changes may be made therein Without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the subjoined claims.

I claim:

1. In a device of the character described, a supporting structure representing a child or the like, a plurality of sheets having representations of dresses thereon, and means for hingedly connecting said sheets to said supporting structure whereby each sheet may swing from the front of said supporting structure to the rear thereof and thereby disclose to view the representation of a different dress.

2. In a device of the character described, a supporting structure representing a child or the like, a plurality of sheets having representations of dresses on both sides thereof, and means for hingedly connecting said sheets to said supporting structure whereby each sheet may swing from the front. of said supporting structure to the rear thereof and thereby disclose to view the opposite side of said sheet and the representation of a different dress.

3. In a device of the character described, a supporting structure representing in part a child or the like, a plurality of sheets having representations of dresses on both sides thereof, means for hingedly connecting said sheets to said supporting structure whereby each sheet may swing from the front of said supporting structure to the rear thereof and thereby disclose to view the opposite side of said sheet and the representation of a difierent dress, and means attached to said supporting structure for detachably engaging said sheets at some distance from said hinge-connecting means to prevent them from swinging out of their adjusted position.

4. In a device of the character described, a supporting structure representing in part a child or the like, a plurality of sheets having representations of dresses on both sides thereof, means for hingedly connecting said sheets to said supporting structure whereby each sheet may swing from the front of said supporting structure to the rear thereof and thereby disclose to view the opposite side of said sheet and the representation of a different dress, and means attached to said supporting structure for detachably engaging said sheets whereby said sheets are held in position at two places to prevent them from swinging out of their adjusted position.

5. In a device of the character described, a supporting structure representing in part a child or the like, a plurality of sheets simulating different dresses, and one or more rings interlinking said sheets and said supporting structure in such a manner that each sheet may be hingedly turned on said ring from the front of said supporting structure to the back thereof and at the same time expose the opposite side of said sheet, each sheet having the representation of a different dress on the opposite sides thereof and the adjacent surfaces of any two sheets having a representation thereon of the same dress whereby both the front and back of said supporting structure presents to an observer a representation of the same dress.

6. In a multi-dress doll, a base piece of sheet material of substantial thickness formed and decorated to simulate a child or the like, a plurality of sheets of relatively thin material having the representations of different dresses thereon, and means for hingedly connecting said sheets to said base piece so that they may be turned from the front to the back thereof to disclose the representation of a different dress and so that they cannot become detached and lost.

'7. In a device of the character described, a member which is formed to represent the upper portion of a doll, a plurality of sheets having representations of different dresses on opposite sides thereof, hinge means for connecting together the lower edges of said sheets, one of said sheets having means at its upper end for permanently connecting it to said upper portion, said upper portion having means for detachably holding in place the upper ends of the rest of said sheets on either side of said permanently connected sheet.

8. In a toy of the character described, a member of substantial thickness formed to represent the upper portion of a doll, a plate securedto said upper portion at the front thereof, a second plate secured to said upper portion at the back thereof, said plates extending downward below the middle of said member whereby there is provided a space between said plates of substantially the same thickness as said member, a plurality of thin sheets having the representations of different dresses thereon, the aggregate thickness of said thin sheets being substantially equal to the thickness of the space between said plates, the upper ends of said sheets being normally positioned between said plates, means for hingedly connecting together the lower edges of said thin sheets, and means for permanently connecting the upper end of one of said sheets to the upper portion of said doll.

9. In a toy of the character described, a member of substantial thickness formed to represent the head, shoulders and arms of a doll, a plate secured to the shoulders of said doll at the front thereof. a second plate secured to the shoulders of said doll at the back thereof, said plates extending downward below the middle of said member whereby there is provided a space between said plates of substantially the same thickness as said member, a plurality of thin sheets having the representations of different dresses thereon the aggregate thickness of said thin sheets being substantially equal to the thickness of the space between said plates, the upper ends of said sheets being normally positioned between said plates, means for hingedly connecting together the lower edges of said thin sheets, the upper end of one of said thin sheets extending upwardly within said space a greater distance than the others, and a pin extending from one plate to the other and through said upwardly extending end, said upper end being slidable on said pin to permit the other sheets to be positioned on either side thereof.

10. In combination, a supporting member of thin board or the like constructed to represent the figure of a child or the like, a plurality of sheet members representing different dresses, each dress comprising four of said sheets, two at the front of the figure and two at the back, the sheets at the left of the figure both front and back having a ring passing through apertures therein and through an aperture in the left shoulder of said figure for hingedly attaching said sheets to said figure whereby each sheet may be turned from the front of said figure to the rear thereof and at the same time present to the observer the opposite side of said sheet and the representation of a different dress, the sheets at the right of the figure both front and back having a similar ring passing through apertures therein and through an aperture in the right shoulder of said figure for hingedly attaching said sheets to said figure whereby each sheet may be turned from the front of said figure to the rear thereof and at the same time present to the observer the opposite side of said sheet and the representation of a different dress.

11. In a device of the character described, a supporting member of thin board constructed to represent the figure of a child with head, shoulders, arms and legs, said board being cut out in that portion of the figure usually having a dress and extending from the shoulders to the legs and from one arm to the other, a plurality of relatively thin sheets each having the representation of a dress thereon positioned in said cut-away portion and having an aggregate thickness approximately equal to the thickness of said board, each of said sheets having an aperture therethrough adjacent to the Wrist of one of said arms, and a ring in the form of a bracelet encircling said wrist and passing through said apertures whereby each sheet may be turned from the front to the back of said figure.

12. In a device of the character described, a supporting member of thin board constructed to represent the figure of a child with head, shoulders, arms and legs, said board being cut out in that portion of the figure usually having a dress and extending from the shoulders to the legs and from one arm to the other, a plurality of relatively thin sheets each having the representation of a dress thereon positioned in said cut-away portion and having an aggregate thickness approximately equal to the thickness of said board, each of said sheets having an aperture therethrough adjacent to the wrist of one of said arms, and a sheet of material secured to said supporting member just below said cut-away portion to close it slightly near the wrist opposite to said ring in order to retain said sheets in position within said cut-away portion.

13. A doll, comprising supporting structure made from fiat material figured on at least one side thereof, a plurality of flat sheets representing different costumes, and means for permanently attaching said sheets to said supporting structure in such a manner that said sheets may be shifted from one side of said supporting structure to the other to effect a change in costume.

14. A doll, comprising supporting structure made from fiat material figured on both sides, a plurality of flat sheets representing different costumes, and means for permanently attaching said sheets to said supporting structure in such a manner that said sheets may be shifted from one side of said supporting structure to the other to effect a change in costume.

15. A doll, made from flat material figured on both sides, a plurality of flat sheets representing different costumes, each sheet having the representation of a different costume on opposite sides thereof, means for permanently attaching said sheets to said supporting structure in such a manner that each sheet may be shifted from one side of said supporting structure to the other to expose the opposite side of said sheet and the representation of a different costume, said attaching means holding the sheets in such an order that the adjacent surfaces of any two sheets have depicted thereon the corresponding front and rear of the same costume.

16. A doll, comprising supporting structure made from flat material figured on at least one side thereof, a plurality of fiat sheets representing diiTerent costumes, means for permanently attaching said sheets to said supporting structure in such a manner that said sheets may be shifted from one side of said supporting structure to the other to effect a change in costume, and a supporting base for said flat material and said flat sheets, said base having a portion thereof extending both to the front and to the rear of the plane of said fiat material and said fiat sheets.

17. A doll comprising, a plurality of fiat sheets each having a figured representation thereon, said sheets being positioned in superposed relationship whereby the total thickness of said doll is the aggregate thickness of said sheets, and means for permanently connecting said sheets together in such a manner that they may be shifted from one side of sale. aggregate thickness to the other to bring to the outside any one of said sheets and to expose to view the particular figured representation on that sheet.

18. A doll comprising, a plurality of flat sheets each sheet having a figured representation on both sides thereof, said sheets being positioned in superposed relationship whereby the total thickness of said doll is the aggregate thickness of said sheets, and means for permanently connecting said sheets together in such a manner that they may be shifted from one side of said aggregate thickness to the other to bring to the outside any one of said sheets and to expose to view the particular figured representation on that sheet.

NORMA S. WHITING.

comprising supporting structure 

